Comic Fencing!

Hey all, stopping by to let you know that I'm taking part in a brand spanking new review site called...Comic Fencing! The jist is this: Each week one comic is reviewed by FIVE different reviewers! Cool huh? You will be able to get five different views of the same comic. And, you'll also be able to review the reviews! This is a fresh take on reviewing, so feel free to peruse the site and get ready for the first review! Did I say reviews enough? Review!

Big change coming to the chimp rating system!

Okay, I know that I originally didn't use the chimp system, then went to the rating system we all know and love today. But, I honestly haven't been too happy with the twelve chimps lately because when it comes time to review the comics, I find myself hesitating a lot. It gets more difficult with each comic to give a rating I'm comfortable with. With twelve chimps it's hard to know what to make of the rating. Say I give a comic a ten. Why not eleven? Or nine? With ten chimps it's much easier to differentiate between the scores given, in my opinion. You don't really know what to make of a ten or eleven, or even a four or five with the way it is now. So, without complicating things further, let me announce that we will now be going to a TEN CHIMP rating system! Less chimps means it's easier for me to score, and easier for you to understand your comics final review score. As for the comics that have been reviewed with the twelve chimp system, those reviews still stand. I'm not going to go back and change all of the scores. Thank you, and I hope this makes sense. Later!

Todays Review: Max and Tonks...

Max and Tonks is the comedic tale of a boy and a lost military robot he takes home. Updated, um....I don't know when actually. Who writes and draws it? I don't know that either. So I guess I'll just review the comic and see what happens...

What an oddball take on comics, this one is. Max and Tonks is drawn in a surreal patchworky cut and paste style, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Far from it, actually. It's really refreshing to see something this different come across my "desk"(my desk being the kitchen table). The humans in the comic resemble some sort of freakish demon peeps(those little marshmallow easter treats shaped like chicks) with stick figure arms and legs. Crazy, but cute nonetheless. Backgrounds are what you might see if you were high on mushrooms. Cute and totally different, until you see another comic that he mentions as inspiration. We The Robots has a style quite similar, but I'll leave it to you whether it's a homage or something else altogether.

The writing was a bit more mainstream, but still had enough edge to compliment the art style. Tonks seems to take on characteristics of the books that he has read, the reason given to explain why he can talk after the first few strips. At times there were no jokes in the strips, and at others a site gag was used. It'll be interesting to see whether they can give the comic a good balance of goofy humor and story.

Max and Tonks intrigued me. The art alone was reason enough to keep me interested for a while, but the story has to grab to keep your attention. I'm not sure the "government wants its robot back" cliched story is going to be what brings readers in. With a little work, Max and Tonks has potential to be a sleeper hit. Give it a minute of your time and see if a cute robot and his human pal deserve your bookmark. It got mine.

I give Max and Tonks...

(Eight out of twelve chimps)
(Max and Tonks contains no cursing, and is pretty much family friendly)

Todays Review: Gothbunnies...

Comics that involve anthropomorphic characters tend to creep me out a bit, unless they are handled in a certain fashion. I don't like seeing furry sex. It's not something that appeals to me. Where am I going with this? I'm not sure. I guess I'm just saying that a "furry" comic has to be fairly interesting and avoid the stigmas that come with the genre to get my attention, or even a review from this dude. Now, that brings us to todays review...

Gothbunnies(nice title), by Joanne Wojtysiak, concerns a pack of rabbits(Sorrel, Larch, and Dittany) attempting to move into their newly acquired home, a nice big hole, but finding out that it's not that easy when you have sinister monster plants and magic to contend with. Updates come every Wednesday.

The art in Bunnies is nice and detailed black and white goodness. A nice grasp of anatomy is present, even down to the carefully crafted hands. Human hands of course, we're talking walking talking bunnies here. Some pages are more detailed than others, but that's to be expected in any comic. I would love to see what Joanne could do with a town or castle setting, and this comic seems like it would be no trouble to slap a castle in there somewhere. Anyway, nice art, good sense of page layout, very professional work. Moving on.

The story itself starts off pretty slow and laid back, what with a lot of bickering amongst the characters, until a male rabbit named Vetiver pops up. The pacing could have been a bit better, as the comic tended to drag at times, and I honestly wasn't sure what crowd the comic is going for. The comic really has no goth themes, with the closest thing being magic and a bunny that wears a lot of black. Don't worry though, because it's all explained in the "about" section of the site. Also the difficulty in figuring out who is male and female(I had this problem)is explained as well. She thought of everything! Aside from these few problems the comic does get fairly interesting later on involving police, magic spells, water fairies, and all sorts of things. I'm curious as to where the comic will go from here.

Gothbunnies is an interesting specimen. Some will probably check it out based solely on the "goth" in the name, and may be turned off when it's not goth at all. I'm sure though that many will come for that reason and yet stay for the other themes because it is a well done and well thought out comic. Great art and a slow yet solid story that will most likely pay off in the end. Hop over to Gothbunnies(heh) and give it a once over. You just might be in it for the long haul...

I give Gothbunnies...

(Gothbunnies is basically for PG with minor swearing)

Moving. Sucks, don't it?

Sorry no new review the last few days, but we've been busy moving into a new house. Don't worry though, we're getting free internet access somehow, so I'll be saving money and continuing to update, hopefully on a more frequent schedule. Go read some webcomics!

Mini Review-Pick of the Week!!!

Herman The Manatee is the newest pick of the week, and with only six comics in the archives, that's saying something. The comic is created and illustrated by Jason Viola, co-creator and illustrator of The Bullet Points, which I have reviewed in the past. Herman's simple yet hilarious main plot point is: Herman can't seem to NOT get his cranium cracked by motorboats. I know, simple, right? Updates swim onto the site every Wednesday.

The art in Manatee is nicely done with a detailed ocean view drafted in beautiful blacks and whites, a welcome change of pace for this reviewers colorblinded eyes. Black and white, when done right, can surpass even the most perfectly colored comic. Great style reminding me of classic comics of years gone by. Or it's just drawn good.

The writing is strictly written around the idea of a poor Herman never being able to get a break, with his feeble mammal mind not quite being able to grasp NOT going to the surface for a skull fracture or two. For now it's really funny seeing exactly how each week he will come to that end, but I wonder how long Jason will be able to keep up the one note joke?

Great comic here. Why? Because it's just such a ridiculous premise that it works. You don't have to be a cynical art geek or a gamer nerd to enjoy Herman for what it is; twenty seconds of good natured fun. Do yourself a favor and take a dip in Herman The Manatees world.

I give Herman The Manatee...

(Herman is for all ages...thus far)

New! Chimpies Recommended Reading!

Hey all, I have a new banners area down and to the right solely for Chimpies Recommended Reading. What that means is any comic that gets nine or more chimps will receive a small banner linking to their comic as reward. And if you feel like linking to my site as well, ahem, don't let me stop you....trust me, Chimpy has great taste! Enjoy!